The Day My Wiper Bailed Out

It was raining hard this morning just like it did the past few days. I was stuck in the usual C5 morning traffic listening to Chico and Delamar gazing at the dark sky through my windshield which was temporarily cleared by my old reliable wipers which would wipe the rainwater off for a few seconds before it gets shrouded again.

The wipers each have 2 main clips on each end and 4 others in the middle. The 2 at the end hold the wiper blade while the 4 give it that arched design so it can glide through the glass cleanly. Then came the most horrific scene of the day, one of the clips came loose as the wiper was somewhat severely arched like a crossbow. What the?!?

Taran-taran-tarararan…

“Pop!” goes the wiper…

It was like I pressed the “eject wiper” button somewhere in the dashboard as it flew out – like a missile. Good thing it landed on top of my hood.

The bad news is that with the wiper out, the right side of the windshield wasn’t being cleared. The good news is that the left one was still working. The really really bad news is that without the right wiper, the 6 clips turned into 6 claws badly scratching away at my windshield. I quickly turned it off as the irritating metal-to-glass scratching sound was gone.

Great. Now I can’t see a thing.

I stopped and got out the car to fix the wiper blade. So there I was, drenched in the rain, studying how the whole wiper thing works by studying the left one and comparing it with the right one until I realized that the wiper blade is already damaged and I cannot really fix it.

Ok McGyver within, let’s see what you got.

I just reclipped it. I didn’t have time to gather up a paper clip, a string and some bubblegum (I dunno… this is what McGyver would look for I assume) and I was already drenched in the rain just like in those boyband music videos.

It worked… for a while. In Makati, the wiper came loose again and it started scratching at the windshield. I just turned it off and used my Jedi powers to navigate all the way until the office parking lot. Actually I was driving with my head constantly bobbing like a parrot looking for spaces on the windshield that is clear of rainwater. I also stick my head out of the side window ala Ace Ventura (but not all the way of course). Some Jedi power eh?

Going home tonight will be trickier I imagine…

Arn @ the Dept of Foreign Affairs

I had my passport renewed for my botched onshore assignment. I’m not a big fan of government agencies as they all have the same long boring lines, poorly implemented system, manual processes and hundreds and hundreds of people.

Here are some random thoughts while at the DFA:

- As always, there are fixers everywhere! There’s an amazing booth outside the DFA that will “inspect” your photo and will come up with something that makes it unacceptable (and therefore you have to take your picture there).

- The instructions for renewing your passport is posted outside: “Proceed to the DFA basketball court and fall in line”. Basketball court? So you have to shoot some free throws to get your passport renewed? Make 1 out of 5 and get it 2 weeks later? Make 5 out of 5 and you’ll get it tomorrow? Make a shot from half court and you get a green card? Weird.

- The dude at the “data inspection” counter amazed me. He got my papers, typed something on the computer, stamped it then signed it… all without looking at my documents and without looking at the screen while talking to the girl at the other counter (who was doing the same thing). Wow!

- The passport claim area shows us the type of system these guys have. We have a window for all last names ending with “A”, another for “B”, for “C”, “D”, “E” “F” and “G” were in one window, well, you get the idea. “M” had its own window. “W” “X” “Y” and “Z” were all in the last window. Based on that, we all know how this was supposed to work right?

… and my passport came out of the “C” window. Genius.

- Here’s the funniest thing that happened that morning – all the people there had the same claim forms since we were all there just for one reason… (and that’s why they called it the “passport claiming area”)… Anyways, all the people fell in line and submitted our claim forms then we wait for our name to be called in an area 10 feet away from the counters. One annoyed employee picked up one of the forms, raised it up and asked sternly “Kanino ito?”

People were quiet. I was chuckling.

“KANINO ITO? DI KO MABASA YUNG SULAT.”

Look dude, if you can’t read it from 5 inches from your face, how can we at 10 feet? People started laughing. The poor dude was embarrassed.

Well, I got my passport now. Next stop…

Secret :)

On Weird Habits

I was blog hopping and I stumbled into Liza’s site again. I know I’ve already read this particular entry of hers before but I only realized now that I was tagged.

The topic?

8 Weird things about yourself…

So it’s a weirdo telling everyone else weird things about himself… where do I start?

Here’s how to play: The rules are, “once you’ve been tagged, you have to write a blog post with (8) weird things/habits about yourself”. At the end you need to choose the 8 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says Tag You’re It.” in their comments and tell them to read your blog…

1. Sound Effects
… which led me to think about applying at RX 93.1 with Gene. It didn’t push through though. I still do the old Donald Duck voice to quiet down crying babies. Sadly, I couldn’t do one of my favorites anymore ever since I reached 20 – the crying dog wail. I used to do that when cars would pass by hee hee.

2. OC and locking cars
It’s my daily routine – I park my car in the morning. I hop out then walk towards the lifts. 20 steps away, I run back to the car and check if I locked it. I walk towards the lifts again then I forget if I did lock it or not.

Sometimes while I’m at my desk the thought still lingers… “did I really lock my car?”

3. Lists and Post Its
I always have a to do list, a to buy list, a to do for now list, a to buy just for this particular trip list, a to do now or never list and I even use sublists like say, a to do list for the weekend which will have a list inside it just for Saturday afternoon. Once I start working on the things on my list, anything not on it will have to wait which is why my mom would always sneak in her chores into my list. Nice one mom…

I have post its everywhere. Most of these are quick thoughts and random “to do’s”. My last post it pad actually I used up all in writing verses and quotes and guitar chords all of which I stuck behind my guitar. For some of you, you know which quote I'm talking about...

4. Switch Shooter
…when playing basketball. I shoot free throws with my left hand. I shoot three point shots with my right. I shoot left handed on the right side of the court and I shoot right handed on the left side of the court. Go figure. I guess that makes me harder to defend?

5. LSS
When I get hit by LSS it’s always a bad case. It doesn’t matter if the song is old and new, sung by a guy or a girl, ballad or rock, pop or novelty. For some reason, the unusual songs are the ones that catch on really fast (eg. Quit Playing Games with My Heart and Don’t Touch my Birdie)

6. Microscopic Handwriting.
I measured it, it’s 1mm for lower case letters and 1.5 for upper case. It’s handy when I have just a small amount of material with so many things to write and it’s impossible to be copied from during exams. I would just leave my paper on top my desk and still no one could copy off it. The downside is that it takes me forever to write a sentence. This is why I never really write down my thoughts since my brain gives them out faster than I write them (which leads to a lot of lost thoughts). I have to type them :-/

7. MSN status
Ok ok. I admit I kinda got the idea from Gezelle but I really do love using the MSN status feature for letting out what I feel. Sometimes I write out the exact line of a song that just made me think (not necessarily it applies to me). Oftentimes it leads to controversy and a lot of questions. It’s amazing how other people really do notice these messages (eg. Mahar, Berns, Jaye and Ria). One thing I observed? The people who notice my status messages are the same people who let it all out through MSN statuses as well. Takes one to know one I guess.

8. No Sense at All
Typical Arn – does a lot of things that just doesn’t make sense. I sing songs even though a different song is being played on the radio. I would pick up an item in a shop then browse on another item that’s on the display. I make up my own nickname for all my friends (eg. Mags is now Maggie, Ester is now Liggy, Fritzie is Fritty, etc etc…). I wear my watch on my right hand and I remove it when I’m in the office and set it beside my keyboard. I eat a double whopper and fries with diet coke… etc etc etc... absolutely no sense at all.

Told ya I’m weird…

I’m tagging hmmm…
Mags, Fritzie, Gwenny, Ria, Geena, June, Pamie and Knoll

You’re it!!! =D

I'm a Talent!

I'm a Talent!

You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.

Talent: 56%
Lifer: 44%
Mandarin: 41%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.

I got this from Gwenny's blog. =D

Hail to the Pacman

He KO'd Morales a few months ago and he just toyed with Larios in his last bout last weekend. He's a symbol of hope for Filipinos that through hard work you can achieve anything.

This is why I'm not surprised he's in all the ads around the country. He has given so much to this country that I think he should be given more than just endorsement deals, a movie and an album.

Why not...

make him our national hero!



and while we're at it, why not put his face on one of our bills?



yup! Give credit where credit is due!

Of Chicago Parks and Statues

Lots and lots of parks… one of the things I really like about Chicago. There are more parks in Chicago than there are Ministops in Makati and these are parks where you can actually hang out and do stuff in. We also have parks here but they aren’t as nice the ones there. Besides, if I wanted to go to a place where I can read a book, draw or write something or just bum around, I’d probably go to the nearest Starbucks...

… or I can go to work.

My favorite parks in Chicago would include Wicker (hay…), Millenium (skating!), Grant (big open space) and Lincoln (lotsa squirrels).

Some things I found weird though about the parks, particularly the statues in it:

1. Lincoln in Grant Park

Walk into Grant park and you would see Buckingham fountain which used to be the biggest fountain in the world. Walk around and you would see a statue of… Abe Lincoln? What’s Lincoln doing in Grant park? Why not call this Lincoln park instead? Dunno, doesn’t make any sense really.

2. Grant in Lincoln Park

Take bus #22 along Clark and go down at Lincoln Park Zoo. It’s a nice clean place and best thing about is… it’s free! It’s also the place where I found the most squirrels (and you know I love them little critters). The pond at the middle, the ducks and geese, there’s a camel and oh wait… there’s a statue of Grant. Now what’s HE doing here?!?

Lincoln in Grant park. Grant in Lincoln park. It still doesn’t make any sense. In fact, what the heck where they thinking?!? How did they name these places?!?

Flashback to the early 1900’s:
Person 1: The Chicago Parks committee meeting is now in session. Now what do we name that place where Grant’s statue is?
Person 2: Lincoln park!
Person 1: Wow! That’s smart! But what do we name that place where Lincoln’s status is if we’re gonna call this other place Lincoln park already?
Person 2: Uh… Grant park?
Person 1: Wow! I NEVER thought of that!

Yeah yeah let’s laugh at them but years later they built the Sears Tower, reversed the flow of the Chicago river and drafted Michael Jordan.

At least we know whose statue to find when we go to Rizal Park :P

3. Grant’s Shoes

Here’s a theory: Maybe the statues were originally placed where they should supposed to be. If that was the case, how did they “switch” them? Maybe Lincoln and Grant walked… hahahahah

Or did they?

Here’s a pic of Grant’s statue. See his shoes? Those are grass and straw caught in his shoe. Wow! Could it be possible that this statue actually walked all the way there? You know what this means? You’re already riding a horse… then you decide to walk all the way instead?!?

4. Unusual Lincoln statue

Statues of people either in their finest moment or in a made up majestic pose. Did you see Michael Jordan’s statue at the United Center? Did you see the Christopher Columbus statue shrine? How about Lincoln… I wonder which pose he should have?

Never mind the “sitting Lincoln” statue. This here is the “fabulous Lincoln” version.

Weird isn’t it?

Now where did I see that pose before... lemme see... hmmm...

oh right...

Of Carnival Games and Prizes

I loooooove carnival games.

Probably since it’s one of the happy childhood memories I have. I remember dad bringing me to places like Payanig sa Pasig and Star City to exclusively play games like these. I would end up bringing home a bag of stuffed toys that my folks would give out to other people.

I also love that crane thingie machine. Those who have been with me at Gurnee and Kenosha (namely Ria, Che, Lianne, Rico and Allan) would know. That one started with my fascination with the “UFO Catcher” game which is commonly found in arcades here in Manila. The US version uses the 3 fingered claw which took me a while to get the hang of.

I love these games and I wouldn’t mind spending on them. Honestly I hate it when I couldn’t win a game I know I can win (and have won before). Take those basketball free throws at 6 flags. Back home, my free throw % stat (before I got hurt) was 92%. I know hey, even after 6 months of rust I still could make one right? wrong. I couldn’t get one there. Rats! Same story at Universal studios which is now a mid range jumper… not really my specialty but hey, they ran that play for me when I moved to shooting guard.

The most important carnival game in my life? It was in this fair in Pomona, California. The game was simple enough. Throw a wiffle ball off a board and into a basket. I tried that in 6 flags and it was impossible… well… until I studied it in Pomona. The trick was simple. Throw it with reverse spin, at the right target with the right speed and it falls all the time (as in all the time) into the basket.

How much was the game? 2 bucks for a ball. 5 bucks for three. Get one into the basket and get the big prize. Get two and get the bigger prize. Sounds easy?

I got one with the first five balls I threw. Too easy. But I’m greedy… I wanted the bigger prize. I dunno… for some reason I choked as I was missing badly. It was until I reached my spending threshold when I had to give it up.

After getting the 1st ball in, I spent 40 bucks getting the 2nd one and failed. Damn ball.

I ended up with the big prize which was…

I gave it to my cousin. No way I was going home with it (since it was as big as my suitcase!). I still wanted to get the bigger prize, maybe in the future… maybe if it comes up again. I really wouldn’t mind spending 40 bucks more for getting just one of 24 balls into a basketball in a game I know how to win in.

This game set my records for “most money spent in”, “biggest prize”, “biggest crowd drawn”, “biggest cheering squad”, and ironically, “worst choke performances all time”.

The bigger prize?

An Xbox.

The Flight Home

Probably the one single day in the US that I regretted that I had a good night sleep. You see, I never sleep the night before that 17 year flight (yea, it really feels that long) from RP to US and back and I always sleep through the whole thing except when the "Chicken or fish" lady comes by.

The flight home was pretty dull. My plane seat was in the waaaaaaaaaay back and beside me was this skinny girl who slept through the whole flight with her mouth open. She looked like an extra from some horror movie.

In flight movie? Hmmm… I think there was one. I think it was the one with Amanda Bynes with her being “the man”. I think there was a screen somewhere. Here’s the view from my seat:

See my point? The worst part was when he placed his pillow behind his head. Sheesh…

So how did I amuse myself?

Sudoku books. It was no fun solving these alone though L I breezed through the whole “easy” section of the book but I stopped when I messed up one. Dang.

My iPod. I loaded mine with videos… only to find out these were all deleted probably when I synched it before leaving. Oh well.

My bathroom reader book of useless trivia. Hey, finally a use for this book! The entries are short enough to give you frequent eye breaks but long enough to keep you interested.

Since I couldn’t watch the movie from where I was sitting, it was a good thing that the one beside ms zombie-i-sleep-with-my-mouth-open had a portable DVD player. The problem was, he was watching some Japanese action flick. Can’t relate. :-/

Nothing really interesting happened until I arrived at NAIA. The luggage carousel was one of the things that made me realize I was already in the Philippines (well, that and the big “welcome to the Philippines sign”). The carousel was loaded with those big ol’ boxes with 6 sides labeled and heavily taped (the whole thing was big block of duct tape) and I was able to use my boxing out skills I learned during my basketball days.

Outside, the air was warm, the exhaust fumes were overwhelming, people were rude and the traffic was ridiculous. On my way home, I can’t help but notice that Manny Pacquiao is in almost all billboards. Wow! The last straw: Pacquiao the movie (starring Jericho Rosales).

Welcome back, Arn!

It’s Nastier the Second Time

Mum was asleep in her room. The door opened and the light from the outside room woke her up. Then entered this person whose silhouette placed a huge question mark on top of her head.

You could see it coming.

“Quack.”

Mom was screaming. So was dad… like a little school girl.

Yup!

I pulled off another surprise trip home. =) Glad to be back!

Five Corporate Lessons

Corporate Lesson 1

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you $800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 dollars and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbor," she replies. "Great!" the husband says, "Did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?"

Moral of the story: - If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position toprevent avoidable exposure.

Corporate Lesson 2

A priest offered a lift to a Nun. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologized "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

Moral of the story: - If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Corporate Lesson 3

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager arewalking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish." "Me first! Me first!" says the admin. clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Poof! She's gone. "Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Poof! He's gone. "OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story: - Always let your boss have the first say.

Corporate Lesson 4

A crow was sitting on a tree, doing nothing all day. A rabbit asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing all day long?" The crow answered: - "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the crow, and rested. A fox jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story: - To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very high up.

Corporate Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able toget to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on my droppings?" replied the bull. "They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung and found that it gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second branch. Finally after a fourth night, there he was proudly perched at the top of the tree. Soon he was spotted by a farmer, who shot the turkey out of the tree.

Moral of the story: - Bullshit might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Of Lovers and Friends

Lovers fight... and so do friends. But lovers kiss and make-up. Friends make-up only. But when lovers didn't make up, usually they just cool it off and find hard to be the same again. When friends didn't make up, it's the most different feeling in the world so they make-up eventually.

Lovers get jealous... and so do friends. But lovers get jealous because they demand commitment. Friends get jealous because they demand attention. But when lovers get jealous, they really look serious. When friends get jealous, they look funny. Lovers give each other gifts. And so do friends. But when lovers do this, it's but natural. When friends give each other gifts, it's sooooo sweet.

Lovers make each other happy... and so do friends. They hang out, call one another, talk, yell, encourage when the other is down, sing, dance, eat together. They share secrets, dreams, take care of each other. But lovers expect these from one another. Friends expect these from others too but get from each other instead.

Lovers can be complicated... and so do friends. But lovers usually try hard to adjust with one another. Friends just stay as what they are and don't give a damn whether they are nuts, or freaks, or stupids. Cause friends are not turned-off; they only laugh.

Lovers freak-out when you forgot birthdays... and so do friends. But lovers wouldn't forgive until they forget. Friends wouldn't forgive until an hour after when they receive a li'l bar of chocolate with a cheap card.

Lovers really love each other... and so do friends. But lovers either get married or break up. Friends either stay friends or be lovers or nothing at all.

WaterColours

I’m bad at painting and drawing as I am with cooking. I still remember my high school days when Nego would draw his notes instead of writing them. It made studying for The Iliad a lot lot lot easier.

I tried drawing and… well…I drew a cow that looked like a house… go figure.

Here’s my first stab at watercolor painting:



I asked my officemates what they thought this was. Their answers?

Nikki: wine and cheese.
Jenn: wine fruits and cheese.
Che: dog.

Wine and cheese that looks like a dog. Move over Mr. Cow-house! This is my new masterpiece!

Weather Discussions

So now I understand why the weather is always an interesting topic here. Ask that question everyday and you'll get different answers. Ask that question from different towns and you also get different answers. I noticed that answers ALWAYS come in this format:

“How’s the weather?”

ANSWER:
It’s . . nah, it doesn’t have to be true :P>. .

Care to try?

“It’s cold. When I stepped out the train, I was covered in snow in 10 seconds flat. It wasn’t as bad as 3 years ago when snow was up until cars’ door handles. I heard though that it was worse in Minnesota. I wish it would be warmer.”

See? :P

Thoughts while walking downtown

My usual trip to the library was a little interesting today. There was a lot of people downtown, mostly Latinos who participated in the "A Day Without Immigrants" rally at Grant Park.

My first thought was "wow, it looks a lot like Makati at 5:30pm on a Friday.". Until I noticed some things:

• Sure it caused traffic, but the cars were still moving. Slow. But moving nonetheless.
• The crowd was disciplined. They lined up for the subways and waited for pedestrian signals. No one complained. They just followed.
• No street vendors.
• On my way back from the library, there were only a few people left walking in the streets… which were still clean.

Hmmm… now it just looked a little like Makati… until I started observing the obvious things like the Sears Tower which is no PBCom, McDonald's restaurants with no Jollibees nearby (unheard of!!!), the temperature, the wind… hey I can go on all day…

Nah… not even close.

Oh by the way, I got me (finally) a library card! Wheee…

Interesting Sunday

5:36 am – Still awake from last night’s party. Drunk? Nah… Was working a little and chattin’ with Jaye. Was out like a light a few minutes later. zzz

7:00 am – something was beeping… my tired eyes saw a digital image of “7:00”… not sure what it was but it went flying across the room a few seconds later… back to sleep… zzz

Sometime between 8:00 am and 8:30 am
Tummy: *growl*
Brain: “later na… natutulog pa si Arn e.”
Tummy: *growl* *growl*
Brain: “shut up!”
Bladder: *growl*
Brain: “Get up get up get up!”

… ok, so bladders probably don’t growl but you get the idea…

9:00 am – another beeping sound, it was my mobile this time. Oh yea, I have to be on standby for work. I grabbed the support phone and… zzz

11:13 am – Woke up again… tried to get out of bed, no luck… tried to roll over, no luck… glanced at the phone, no calls… zzz

12:15 pm – Finally got up. Boiled water for my pasta lunch. Did some more work. Che called and wanted to borrow my rice cooker… and rice na rin hehhe. It’s a cold rainy day. Maybe that’s why my bed was like a black hole again.

12:45 pm – (@ Che’s). was in my hearts pajamas and Stephen Jackson jersey. Didn’t even bother brushing my hair. Went back to my unit to finish up work (workaholic)

2:00 pm – went up to Che’s again for lunch. STILL didn’t bother brushing my hair. Watched some celeb shows. Lianne went home since she had work to do. Gwen also left a few minutes later. Me? I fell asleep sa couch. Zzz…

3:15 pm – went back home. dozing off every few minutes. I was channel surfing when the BoSox game popped up. Bosox down 3 in the 9th. Lowell homers, Pena homer, Nixon walks, Snow hit by pitch, Youkilis strikes out, Loretta grounds out and game… dang. Bitin.

4:00 pm – I was finally awake. Wanted to go to University of Chicago but it was raining. :( I was waiting for the southbound #10 bus but… after just a few minutes I bailed. My patience is short when I’m standing in the rain. Decided to walk south. U of C can wait...

4:05 pm – one block away. I was now in front of the Chicago theater and ABC news room. Chicago theater was headlining Late Night with Conan O’Brien. I tried heckling the news anchors to no avail...

4:30 pm – Shopping at Old Navy. Nothing interesting on sale. Ended up buying some shirts anyway hehehehe.

5:10 pm – I was rattling the closed doors of the public library. Oh, it’s closed already. :( What to do in State… hmmm… Jewel? Nah… went home instead.

5:40 pm – zzzzzzzzz

6:30 pm –
Tummy: *growl*
Brain: “Patience my pet…”

7:30 pm - @ Portillo’s with Tessa and Edison. Had a giant charbroiled burger with bacon and cheese and fries swimming in even more cheese. My drink? Ironically, it’s a diet coke.

8:30 pm - @ Oakwood at Edison’s. Just hanging out playing games. Tess was playing Kingdom Hearts 2 which looked like a really cool role playing game. I suddenly missed my PS2 back home.

10:30 pm - @ Oakwood at Jaye’s. I sent her the pics from last night. She was screaming because of the Sadako picture of Amy. I wonder how she would react if she saw the vid… :-/

11:30 pm - @ walking at Clark. No more rain :D Dropped by 7-11 for a slurpee nightcap. Mmmmmm!

11:45 pm – Spurs at Kings. Kings up big time over the Spurs. Wooohoooo!!!

12:30 am – Laundry. Wheeee… :-/

1:00 am – Iron clothes. Wheeee… :-/ I left ¼ of the load as advised by Jaye. We answered some blog quizzes instead, one of which I posted before this entry. Interesting results… :P

2:30 am – zzz (finally) :P

Wow, when you do write about what kind of day you had, it just makes it even better :)

I am a warrior soul

You Are a Warrior Soul

You're a strong person and sometimes seen as intimidating. You don't give up. You're committed and brave. Truly adventuresome, you are not afraid of going to battle. Extremely protective of loved ones, you root for the underdog. You are picky about details and rigorous in your methods. You also value honesty and fairness a great deal. You can be outspoken, intimidating, headstrong, and demanding. You're a hardliner who demands the best from themselves and others. Souls you are most compatible with: Old Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

(Thanks Jaye! :D)

Weird Weather

Last Sunday morning it was hot - too hot to wear a jacket. Early afternoon, it was so windy that there was a mini sandstorm at the North avenue beach. Late afternoon it was getting chilly.

…and this morning there's ice everywhere.

Labo no?

Taking Back Sunday

Apr 12
Ria: "u want to watch taking back sunday on sunday? hahaha sorry short notice :D"

Oo naman ako before even asking what the heck is she talking about. Turns out Taking Back Sunday is this alternative band probably only known in the alternative circles (or I guess I'm just that ignorant). Tickets are only avaible at stubhub so if we were going, we had to purchase the tickets ASAP. Since it's an alternative band, Rico had a no-brainer decision. Lianne had to check who the heck are they but ended up going with us as well. Too bad the others couldn't make it. We were still missing a fifth member since only 5 or 3 tickets can be bought at 12 bucks each. After hours and hours of asking others, the tickets were bought and we ended up buying the 4 ticket set at 17 bucks each. 5 bucks down the drain :(

That Sunday was Easter Sunday. We went over to Tito Roger's first for lunch then went back downtown a few hours before the start of the concert. It was pouring that afternoon, probably the most rain I've seen during my stay here in Chi-Town. Since I still have the "I'd rather get wet in my jacket than carry an umbrella around" attitude, I was soaked. Actually, we were all soaked :P. We looked like a boy band music video (where dudes in muscle shirts gets soaked for some unexplainable reason - eg. washing a car, sudden rain, spilled drink etc...). Good thing the rain stopped when we reached the venue.

Damn! No cameras allowed at the House of Blues. Sorry guys, I know I promised posting more pics but I should be excused for this one. The place was packed. First up was:

Suicide City
They were a loud punk band with lots and lots of headbanging and jumping. Watching them on stage was like playing pinball. Rico told me the bassist looked like a chick. Dude, that WAS a chick. Overall, I liked the band. I'm not much of a critic anyway. The music was loud but it still sounded great. During the intermission, I got to talk to the bassist outside near the shops. ("hey" "hey" lang naman...). Next was,

Tokyo Rose
A light alternative band. I dunno, after watching Suicide City's performance, Tokyo Rose looked as boring as the aquarium channel. The lead singer looked a lot like April Boy. He was good though. The songs were nice too but they really should've played first. In addition to that, I couldn't understand a word they were saying other than "thanks guys" and "buy our CD's"... and to think they were a LIGHT alternative band. After two bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade (I ended up drinking Ria's), finally it was Taking Back Sunday on stage.

Taking Back Sunday
...was like a punk version of Green Day. I don't know any of their songs but the wild crowd together with the spiked lemonade put me in the mood for really really loud music. The lead singer kept swinging the microphone around his arms and around his neck and it was like watching one of two olympic events I couldn't really understand - that event where gymnasts swirl around a stick with some stringy material attached at the end. (By the way, the other event is Curling). Overall they're a great band and I wouldn't mind buying their CD. :)

The funniest thing that happened was probably during Suicide city's performance where while they were playing their usual head banging ultra upbeat songs and people started to do Crowd Surfing

Crowd Surfing (noun): This is usually done by either asking someone to give you a boost on the crowd or by putting your hands on the person in front of you and climbing up their back. You then spread your body out like you would after a dive and then surf to where you want by rolling your body.

So people are now being carried to the front of the stage... until it was one dude's turn, he was in the middle part of the crowd... then the song suddenly ends. Poor guy was dropped to the ground hee hee. Funny :P

Cool gig! It was waaay worth it!

Cooking with Arnold V

…just when I thought I got the hang of cooking…

Breaded Chicken

1. Roll chicken breast in egg.
2. Roll chicken breast in flour.
3. Roll chicken breast in bread crumbs.
4. The bread crumbs aren't sticking! Roll it in egg again.
5. Great. Now the flour and bread crumbs were washed off. Roll it in flour.
6. Roll it in… oh wait… the bread crumbs won't stick right?
7. Mix the egg with the flour and the bread crumbs. NOW roll the chicken breast in it. Genius…
8. Empty a bottle of cooking oil in a saucepan.
9. Once hot, drop the chicken in it.
10. It's cooking now… it's smelling good... uh oh… now it's smoking! The oil is too hot you idiot! Fish it out! Fish it out! mayday mayday!!



Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!

The Arnold cooking style - Burnt on the outside, raw in the inside :D

Lakeshore Drive Chronicles III

Young Arnold: I can’t paint. I can’t see art.
Master Zare: Never assume because a man has no eyes he cannot see. Close your eyes. What do you hear?
Young Arnold: Music from my iPod?
Master Zare: Do you hear your own heartbeat?
Young Arnold: No
Master Zare: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?
Young Arnold: (steps on grasshopper) oops! Slightly older (but still pretty) woman, how is it that you hear these things?
Master Zare: Foolish boy! Poor grasshopper! How is it that you do not?

… and so master asked young grasshopper to concentrate more…



PS: Play “Glory of Love” to complete the scene...

LakeShore Drive Chronicles II

Woke up one morning with a really bad hangover and a sore hamstring. Now what would Arnold do?

So off to Lakeshore drive again I went. That was the first time I was at Lakeshore on a clear and sunny weekend. This time I did lots and lots of warm ups… so much that it looked like I was shooting an exercise video.

I really looooove this place. Since I wasn’t in a hurry for our production support call in the evening this time, I finally was able to just sit down and watch the lake from the lighthouse. I also got to see more people in bad jogging outfits



Nice isn’t it?

Mahar's Bodacious Bangus!

Hungry? Cheap? Tired of the same old filet mignon and lobster lunches? Visit a 7-11 near you and try their new daing na bangus rice meal express!

Scientists have proved that eating milkfish has health benefits like more protein for less calories compared to eating that nasty old tenderloin steak. Besides, a purchase of a daing na bangus meal from 7-11 will contribute to the Mahar Charity Foundation which benefits uh… Mahar.

Actually Mahar, my officemate, distributes milkfish from Dagupan to 7-11 for their yummy rice meals. He catches each and every one of these fishes by hand, does quality control, guts, cuts and cooks them, place them in styro packages with rice and atsara then runs around Manila to distribute them to different 7-11 stores and still make it on time for office.

Yup, he’s just that good.

That Darn Gadget

I bought something that I’ve been cursing every morning.

A replacement primary support phone? Nah…

An alarm clock? kinda… but nah…

It’s my new high tech digital weighing scale with % body fat calculator. Great purchase isn’t it? A twenty dollar gadget that tells you everyday that you’re overweight. The thing with this one is that unlike my old manual scale, I can’t tiptoe or shift my weight anymore to “lose” 3 to 6 pounds. All it really lacks is a voice feature that really tells you every day… “Dude, you’re still fat.”

Damn smart-ass weighing scale.

of Chicago Bascule bridges

“Pre, nakataas yung La Salle bridge a.” Rico said as he passed by.

I leaped up, put on my jacket and sprinted 2 blocks to see the Bascule bridge along La Salle go up.

(Btw, La Salle is the name of the street our office and apartment is in. We have to cross this bridge over Chicago river everyday to work)

Upon reaching the last perpendicular street (which was Wacker), the bridge was already going down. I was able to take some pics from where I was but it was boring from this angle. The perfect one would be from the other bridge such that I’ll be on the sides while the bridge is up forming an inverted V.

By the time I was at the bridge, it was already down :(

“Noooooooooooooooo!” (pigeons flying)

Luckily, the bridge was up again 2 hours later. I guess they were calibrating it or something. Guess where I am… I was at the Clark bridge which was directly beside it. Hee hee



Doesn’t that look cool or what? :D

Lakeshore Drive Chronicles

Ahhh... Lakeshore drive. One of my favorite places in Chicago. It's like Roxas boulevard sans the trash, noise and smoke. It's a great jogging/cycling/skating place here downtown since you get great views of Lake Michigan, Navy Pier, John Hancock and lots of beaches.

Last week, I strapped on the metal braces on my knee and ran lakeshore from Navy Pier to North avenue. I cramped up halfway there and ended up walking the rest of the course going to North ave, back to Navy Pier and back to Sterling. Feeling long distance runner kasi... It was freezing that afternoon and the lake breeze didn't help at all.

Yesterday, no more metal braces and I tried running lakeshore again. It wasn't freezing but the temp was still somewhere around 5C. Wow, the week-long knee strengthening program really worked! I was able to reach North ave with no injuries. Going back to Navy Pier was a different story though - I pulled a hamstring. Ow! Now I had to hobble all the way from Lakeshore (somewhere near Hancock) back to Navy Pier and back to Sterling. Not a good experience at all and I think I just made the injury worse. Today, I walked like a zombie.

I've only had two attempts but I really love running Lakeshore drive. Now that I'm on the injured list again, I'll do the second best thing to do in Lakeshore drive -> make fun of others' jogging outfits. Again, note that it's freezing so the usual running shorts and running shirts are out of the picture.

Men in purple tights. What the?!? I understand tights as a sports necessity but fashion-wise, I'm not a big fan of them. They look ok on women. For men, it will only look good if you're in a gym/indoor place or if you're superman (complete with red underwear on the outside). Spandex for jogging just doesn't look right and if you have to wear one, please wear black. If you have to wear purple, might as well wear a cowboy hat and chaps.

Bubble jackets. They look like they're going on an expedition or something. Inside their jacket would be a thermos, an iPod (it just has to be an iPod), food, a towel, gloves, bonnet, a headband and an anvil.

My attire? hehe. I have the basketball/soccer player look - long sleeved shirt on the inside, short sleeved shirt on the outside, thermal tights, jogging pants and my trusty old Air Max TL's. Of course I have to bring the primary support phone, keys, my iPod (it reaaaally just has to be an iPod) and some cash - all stored in an arm bag.

As much as I could make fun of their outfits, they still outrun me... even the old dudes. It's really depressing seeing a 60 year old white haired dude in yellow tights and an orange bandana with an iPod (probably listening to Ja Rule or 50 Cent) run up behind me, then beside me, then finally leaves me in the dust.

Hayop yun... basketball na lang, ano?

Cooking with Arnold IV

I know I know... me trying to cook is like Kevin Federline trying to rap.

Frying an egg sunny side up should be so easy that even my dog can do it. (yea right... give my dog an egg and he'll whip out a frying pan, fire up the stove, put olive oil and cook the egg.) C'mon, you know what I mean.

I mess up eggs most of the time. The sides would get burned while the middle would be raw. Here's a first though:



The yolk rolling off the white?!?

Gillette Fusion

I saw this Gillette fusion ad on TV and I bought one the next time I was at CVS (a store very similar to Mercury Drug back home). I'm such a sucker for commercials. Six blades! Count that... one, two, three, four, five and one more on the back! The one on the back is a precision trimmer used for beards, moustaches and other facial here (none of which I have). The five blades up front are for "a smoother shave with less strokes meaning less irritation" said the handsome sculpted, big-pecced (here I go inventing words again) dude in the white towel.

I tried it and here's what I found out: the 1st blade is to trim your facial hair and remove any traces of shaving cream. The 2nd blade is to lift up your skin and the next 3 blades are designed to pierce and cut anything on its path. Hmmm... maybe it only works for handsome, sculpted, big-pecced dudes in white towels.

Try ko nga later without the towel...

Cooking with Arnold III

wait! what happened to the hash browns?

A week after that I bought some red onions and did the whole thing all over again. The end result was disgusting (but edible). Unfortunately, I didn't have my laptop that time and so I wasn't able to document the process. :( I took a pic of the dish and showed it to Nikki... "wow, that's a nice omelette!"

good enough. :)

Sinangag

1. Research first if it's really sangag or sinangag. Isn't sangag a verb? So you sangag a sinangag?
2. Cook rice yesterday. (tama, go back in time and cook rice. come back to the present so that you'll now "rice cold" aka kaning lamig)
3. Pour olive oil (I bought a big bottle last week) into a frying pan. Chop up some garlic and put into pan. Mmmmmm.... bango! Don't turn on the vent so that the apartment will smell like sauted garlic :D
4. Am I supposed to put in onions? Nah. Wait for the garlic to turn golden brown then mix in the "rice cold".
5. Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! How come it's popping like popcorn?!? Rice is flying everywhere!
6. Crack an egg (with one hand ha) and mix it with the rice. Oh wait, fried rice has egg. garlic rice is just garlic. I guess the dish is now Garlic Fried Rice then.
7. Once egg is cooked, remove from pan and into a big plate.
8. Microwave the hotdog and bacon we cooked yesterday and place it on top of the rice.

Huwaaaawww! First time we cooked something decent! :D Syempre may picture dapat. Notice the charred garlic bits... mmmmmm! :D

of Midnight Thoughts and Memories

Hey, this is an rare serious entry that crossed over from my other blog.

It’s one of those nights when I should’ve listened to Kat. I should’ve listened to what I said to Mahar.

12:30am Ohio and Rush. Two quick hits, one big one and I was down bleeding on the street. It was a bad night to be out alone. It was a bad night not to have anything to soak it up. A pack of tissues, a hanky or even an old pair of gloves would have been nice. No sense calling for help because I didn’t want to sit in the curb any longer and so I decided to walk back.

I crumpled my shirt to cover it up so I wouldn’t attract any more attention. I was still bleeding profusely though as I’ve been known to in the past. Enduring the pain is one thing, bleeding in the process is another and walking home with these two things has been one unique experience. 5 blocks away and I’ve already lost so much. How come the platelets are not doing their job? Damn lazy platelets. I wasn’t walking straight anymore, my pulse was up and finally came the unusual euphoria. It was during this time when my mind handled thoughts the way it hadn’t handled before. It was like having an alternate point of view in everything I believed in and my mind was processing these thoughts twice the usual rate. Anyhoo, these thoughts are what I really intended to write about. Sorry for the long introduction.

Having a never say die attitude is not always good. It makes you go after the most ridiculous dreams and goals. Sometimes, we do have our share of Cinderella stories wherein we somehow manage to reach these goals. This is what some movies are all about but life is more than what the movie shows. A never say die attitude does lead to Cinderella stories but it can also lead to bad mix of devastating failures and shattered dreams. It can make us aim for something farfetched because we believe, we never say never. Never say die is good, but we also have to be realistic. We should learn to let go of a dream and in worse cases – to kill a dream.

Killing a dream. Probably one of the cruelest things to do to oneself. It has a short term physical effect and a long term mental effect. You can let go of a dream if it’s simply in your grasp. You can’t let go of a dream if it’s already attached to you and has fused to be part of you. You’ll have to kill it.

Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams die, Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly, Hold fast to dreams, For if dreams go, Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow
- Langston Hughes

We do need dreams to hold on to. Killing it off is killing a part of you, making the task a lot harsher than initially thought. The how part will depend on the person.

A dream is gone and a vacuum is formed. Failing to fill it up will cause us to implode, making things a lot worse. This is the time we hold on to the dependables – our always happy thoughts, the people who will stick with you all the way, the natural contingency plan cooked up by the mind for cases like this. Sadly, not all thoughts remain happy, not all people stick with you and not all plans turn out the way you expected it to be. You should always have an alternate plan.

Life’s plan B is to go back to your roots. Go back where we excelled before. Go back a step behind in time. My plan B is video games. I’m good at it when I was young and I’m still pretty darn good at it right now. When I suck at work, suck at relationships, suck at handling life’s problems, I go back home, plug in the old Nintendo system and finish Mario 3 again and again and again. Feels good to be reminded that your damn good at something.

Kinzie and Clark. I wasn’t leaving a crimson trail anymore but I was still woozy. So many other thoughts have already crossed my mind but these are the only things I felt comfortable sharing. It was one unusual night. It felt like someone possessed me and injected me with these thoughts. Weird...

Going back to killing a dream, if ever you did manage to do this cleanly, tell me how.

Arn & Jen Goes to Church

A little over a year ago, Maida and Mahar, two project mates of mine, took Cherina for a walk to see all the northside churches here in downtown Chicago. Following a map and a rule that you have to walk all the way from church 1 to church 7, the journey was dubbed "Cherina Goes to Church".

Mahar gave me a copy of the map a few months ago. I initially wanted to do this journey with someone but she already left and so I intended to go alone (with a tripod). A few weeks ago, Jen saw the map while snooping around in my laptop and decided she would go do that too - with or without anyone.

March 5, Sunday, the weather was foggy and it was ridiculously snowing. We decided to walk 30 blocks together on that day from Sterling all the way to church 7 (along North Ave) and 21 more blocks going back.

From left to right, top to bottom:
(1) St James Cathedral; (2) view of Big John from Chestnut st (told ya it was foggy); (3) Quigley Seminary; (4) Holy Name Cathedral; (5) 4th Prysbeterian Church; (6) Inside the 4th Prysbeterian Church; (7) St. Chrysostom's Episcopal Church; (8) Me and Jen outside St. Chrysostom's; (9) Lake Shore Drive Synagogue; (10) Moody church; (11) Chicago Historical Society building; (12) Jen, Lincoln (the snowman) and me at Lincoln Park

I was able to offer a short prayer in all 7 churches except the Quigley Seminary and Lakeshore Drive Synagogue. My legs were tired, my knee was already cursing me and all my ski-related injuries were coming back but it was really worth it. After Moody church (the last one), we decided to pass by Lincoln park where I took her on a quick tour of the place (had to make it quick coz it was already closing) and chased squirrels. We also passed by the field outside Lincoln Park Conservatory where we made a snowman after she literally dove into the snow.

It was a fun day. While walking back, I didn't even mind my shirt, jeans and socks getting all wet. I wished I could've dragged someone else with us to share the moment but I doubt anyone else here would be willing to walk 50 blocks (not including the detour to Lincoln park).

We just can't help but think that truly, the best things in life are free. :)

...in bed

While at lunch today, someone (it was Analou or Amy I think) ordered out from Panda Express which always come with a fortune cookie. They pointed out that appending "in bed" at the end of each fortune always make it better (or naughtier). Tara try natin. Here are some fortunes from astrohoroscopes.com

- The best things come in small packages, but the Bigger, the better... in bed
- Eat your vegetables, they are good for you... in bed
- Success always occurs in private, and failure in full view... in bed
- Men and nations will react rationally only when all other possibilities have been exhausted... in bed
- Never engage in a battle of wits when you are unarmed... in bed
- Anger only leads to the Dark Side... in bed
- A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory... in bed
- A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking... in bed
- Don't let your mind wander -- it's too little to be let out alone... in bed
- It hurts when something good ends, but it'll hurt even more if you cling to it knowing that it's no longer there... in bed

hee hee :P

Buti pa si...

Ate Jen -> had an article published in Good Roots, Good Fruits... I suck at writing articles. I've had lots of poetries published already but no articles. :(

Zare -> my art master. draws and paints with absolute ease. visit her work at http://www.zarinadocken.com... I suck at drawing. I suck at painting. :(

Gezelle -> the girl can cook (check out her blog)... I really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really as in super suck at cooking. Last night I had burnt bacon with burnt eggs and burnt toast. For lunch today, my racist toaster pulled a fast one on me and absolutely charred my wheat bread.

...but at least I appeared in an Accenture Ad. hahahaha! Touch me, I'm famous! :P

Feeling Restaurant Critic

I was cleaning my inbox when I saw this mail I sent last week to the onshore people to help them decide which restaurant we'll be eating at last Friday night. I haven't posted any restaurant reviews yet in this blog right? :)

~~~ Sent: Thu 2/23/2006 11:23 AM
Here’s the skinny on these places:

Buca Di Beppo (Rush and Kinzie ata)
The Good: Family style Italian restaurant (a cross between Don Hen and Italianni’s). Sulit. We can order family-style which means a wider selection for everyone.
The Bad: We’ll all smell like garlic (no, really). It’s just a restaurant, nothing to do after. Kinda far (Nordstrom near Michigan ave)

Red Lobster
The Good: Steaks and seafood. Walking distance.
The Bad: Kinda pricy. Hirap i-pronounce. Might be out of budget but I’m not sure… Lianne?

Fogo De Chao
The Good: All you can eat steaks and meat. Near Hooters. Walking distance. Not sure about the prices.
The Bad: May hihirit ng “…e diet ako e.”

Chicago Chophouse (near Rock N Roll McDo)
The Good: I heard it’s good.
The Bad: I heard it’s expensive.

House of Blues (Marina City)
The Good: It’s like Hard Rock. There are bar foods and it’s within our price range. There’s a bar so if you guys want to drink, we could (we’ll have to pay for it ourselves though). Place is cool. Walkable from Sterling.
The Bad: They’re bar food (burgers, etc…). Di tayo busog. Might end up at McDonald’s after.

Weber Grill
The Good: Should still be within our price range. Walkable (it’s in front of Jewel).
The Bad: Place is too formal for me. Di tayo puede mag-ingay. The view outside isn’t good (unless you enjoy looking at Jewel)

Cheesecake Factory
The Good: Place is nice. Prices should be within our budget. We get to go to John Hancock. They serve dinner meals too (not just cheesecakes).
The Bad: Hancock nanaman? Most of us have been there the past 2 weeks. Kinda far. Cheesecake makes me fat(ter)

Maggiano’s
The Good: Very near. Italian menu. Prices are acceptable.
The Bad: It’s a date place (dark and cozy). Too many memories

Heaven on Seven (@Loews theater between Jewel and Michigan ave)
See comments for Buca… but change it to Louisiana style menu.

King of the (Bunny) Hill

Last time, we slapped some ice skates on all the onshore people here and it was an ugly sight. I wonder what will happen if we put them on skis instead?

So on to Wisconsin we went...

I've never skied before (duh). I don't even know how ski equipment work and wearing that ski boot really felt weird coz my ankles were completely immobile. Keep in mind that my knee was in a metal brace and was tightly wrapped so I could barely move or bend my leg. I rented some skis, walked to the slopes and snapped them on. Since we're Filipinos, we took lots and lots of pictures first for friendster, msn pics and wallpapers. :P

As always, we started with the bunny hill (you can call it the sissy hill but that's where I'll start anyway).

1st attempt - I never really wanted to go down the hill yet but I slid into the slopes and down I went. 20 feet away and I crashed into the snow. Damn snow. I found out that one of the things I needed to learn first was to get up on my feet on skis. Vince taught us this technique wherein you twist and turn your leg so you can pull yourself up from a kneeling position but it won't work for me... my knee's in a freakin' metal brace! I used my poles to poke the release button, got up and went up the hill again.

2nd attempt - I knew now how to get up when you fall, but how do you brake in this thing? My 2nd attempt was like drag racing. Down the hill in 6 seconds flat. How did I stop? Well, I crashed myself into Jonax, who's a husky 5-10 guy and sent him (and myself) flying into the snow. Skis were everywhere. I bent my pole. The whole scene sent shivers down the spine of people going up the bunny hill. I got up, checked my brace if it's still there and asked Vince to teach me how to brake.

3rd attempt - Down I went at a blazing... 1 km/h?!? I was testing the braking technique I just learned. It was like drag racing with the hand brake on and it took me a few minutes before I reached the bottom. People were disappointed coz they thought I was gonna crash again. Sorry guys.

4th attempt - I've tried 1st gear, now I did 2nd... and I crashed into the conveyor belt. I still didn't know how to turn. Funny thing was, after crashing into the conveyor belt, I was already on my way up. No need to fall in line again hehe.

After that, I finally got the hang of it. No more crashes or any accidents. I was up and down the bunny hill and was now racing with the 3 year olds who skied backwards while I lay flat on my back after that conveyor incident. Damn kids. I wanted to talk trash to them but... well... I'm really a nice guy.

Now it's time to move up the real hill. This is where I faced my biggest challenge. No, going down the hill was easy. I'm talking about getting off the ski lift without falling or crashing. The first time I went up with Chris, we slammed into each other and sprained my thumb. I also crashed into Jonax (again) and Allan so many times. But like I said, going down the steeper and higher hill was fun since I didn't fall anymore. Skiing's great! One downside though is that your body will take serious abuse and if you're not in good shape, you'll be sore for days. In my case, doesn't follow that my name is "Arnold" that I have a Schwarzenegger type body right?



Told ya I wasn't in good shape. Good thing my knees and ankles were intact (how can they not be, they were armored!). I had tricep strains from using the ski poles. I jammed almost all my fingers and sprained my left thumb when I fell getting off the ski lift. I strained my ab (yes ab, not abs... it's one big ab ok?). My left thigh cramped up while doing that brake technique which forced me to go down the hill faster. Bad hair, well, it's always bad and as for my swollen belly, I've had that "injury" for years already. Maybe it's because of my single muscular ab. Maybe... The worst one is my bruised tailbone which has been hurting the past 6 days. Ow... :S

Here's a serious thought. With a blown knee, I never thought I'd be able to ski when I came here and yet I did. It hurts a lot now, but still I was able to do something that I thought I could never do. That's another monkey off my back. :)

Cooking with Arnold II

Due to popular demand, here are more from the pages of Arnold's cookbook:

Sandwiches and Hash Browns

1. Wash 2 potatoes and take out your potato peeler. Start peeling.
2. 20 minutes have passed and you’re still halfway on your first potato. Dump that stupid thing and take out a paring knife. Continue peeling.
3. Good! Just seconds later, the potato is now completely peeled. You realize that the good thing about the potato peeler is that it only takes out the skin while the paring knife takes out the skin AND probably a good ¼ inch of potato with it. Now the potato is only big enough for 5 to 6 small french fries. Wash another potato and peel again.
4. An hour later, you have 2 and 1/3 peeled potatoes. It’s not completely peeled though, there are still some spots that have skins that for some reason, the potato peeler can’t remove. Let’s leave those there for… hmmm… flavor (yeah right)
5. Take out the cheese grater and a plate. Grate the potato into the plate.
6. Sheesh, INTO the plate, not AROUND. Now there’s potato everywhere. Potato on the floor, potato on the table, potato in the frying pan (excited), potato in the sink, potato inside the toaster, potato in my beer.
7. Wipe the potato pieces into the floor. We’ll clean it up later. This is cooking with Arnold, not cleaning with Arnold. Notice that there’s enough on the floor for 2-3 hash browns?
8. Set aside that big yellow pile and take out an onion.
9. Great. No onions. Look for an onion substitute.
10. Congratulations. You found garlic. We wonder where we last used this? It’s the closest thing we have to an onion anyway. That’ll do.
11. Do that cool thing again with the side of the knife. Remove the skin this time. We must learn from our past mistakes. Chop up garlic and mix with the…
12. The big yellow pile is now a big peach pile. How did that happen? Do potatoes really turn peach? Oh well, mix in the garlic.
13. Melt butter into a skillet. Mmmmm! Doesn’t that smell good? Melt some more. You can never have too much butter.
14. Scoop some of that peach mess into the skillet. Potatoes should now be swimming in butter. Hey, they’re not peach anymore! Press in the potatoes with a spatula.
15. Lower the heat to “ridiculously low” (probably 1 or 2) then run down to 7-11 and buy a burger. This should go well with the “hash browns”.
16. 15 minutes later, we’re back with a burger, a donut, a bottle of coke, a six pack of Miller Lite, a pint of cookies and cream ice cream, a bag of Lays and a bag of Ruffles.
17. Oh good, the hash blacks are ready. Flip them and burn the other side naman.
18. One side black, one side brown. Put in a plate and taste it first before frying up another batch.
19. Yuck! Garlic doesn't taste like onions (duh!). Abort! Abort! Dump it in the trash… no wait, use the food disposal thingie… that one looks cool too.

To be continued…

I had a burger, a donut, Lays, ice cream and a Miller Lite for lunch instead.

1 corinthians 13: 4 - 7

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Brrrrrrr

I woke up one morning and saw that it was...

-20C!!!



Syempre I went out and took pictures. Pinoy talaga...

Meet Jen

An American, a Korean and a Filipino were supporting this application when...

Wait, it does sounds like I'm telling a joke...

Oh well, that's gonna be the case now with the recent shuffle in the Chicago support personnel. Meet Jen, my first Korean friend. We had lunch with her yesterday at Singha and today at Thompson's. Sooo many things we're learning about our cultures.



... and Arnold, known for asking weird questions when meeting someone new, was sitting silently in his chair at the ground floor of the Atrium mall. "Ask something interesting... something intelligent. Remember, first impressions last." he thought. Swallowing the Bourbon Chicken he ordered from the New Orleans Kitchen, he wiped his mouth, took a deep breath, smiled and asked

"so you know Tae Kwon Do?"

classic Arnold...

Love is...

from Jaye, my spiritual advisor.

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future, and it does not brood over the past. It's the day-in and day-out chonicle of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories and working toward common goals. If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things that are missing. If you don't have love in your life, no matter what else there is, it's not enough.

No Mail on Sundays, Still No Logic on Fridays

It still didn't make any sense...

We drove 30 minutes out of Chicago downtown to this Filipino restaurant... and we ordered Japanese food.

No sense at all... but hey the food was good! (Not as good as the cheesesteak I had for lunch though) :-P

No Mail on Sundays, No Logic on Fridays

The plan was to have lunch at home (or at Che's). After playing back in my brain the horrific events that happened in my kitchen yesterday, I decided I'll eat out instead... and I was able to convince Lianne and Che to eat out as well hehe.

I felt like Popeyes today. I wanted to have those chicken tenders (actually I wanted the ones from Jewel but since that's a lot more blocks away, I'll settle with Popeyes). For 2 hours I had the image of those chicken tenders and biscuits in my mind.

Lunch time came, I walked straight to Popeyes, decided I was already eating too much chicken lately and had a philly cheesesteak meal instead from the booth beside it. That didn't make any sense. Logic's not working... it must be Friday. Oh wait, it is.



How can you say no to this?

Cooking with Arnold

From the pages of Arnold's cookbook:

Half Cooked Linguine with Charred Garlic Bread

First we cook the noodles.

1. Open a pack of Jewel brand linguine.
2. Boil water in a small saucepan. Not much of a choice since the medium sized is filled with cooking oil (used by Chris for deep frying) and the large one is...well... missing...
3. Add salt then place the noodles into the boiling water.
4. After a few minutes, once half the noodles are almost cooked, force the pertruding (the other half) noodles into the saucepan.
5. Once the noodles can now fit into the dinky sauce pan, set the timer to 5 minutes then watch SportsCenter on TV and watch some LeBron highlights from last night.
6. Alarm sounds... but they're still showing more LeBron highlights and Maria Sharapova highlights... ignore the alarm and wait for 2 more minutes.
7. You end up finishing the show and realize that it has been 10 minutes already. You run to the kitchen and check out your half slightly overcooked half really overcooked noodles.
8. Now you realize you forgot to open the vents. Smoke fills the ceiling as you watch the smoke detector and pray that it doesn't trip. You open a window and get static shocked in the process.
9. Too lazy to bring out the strainer, you just try to tip the saucepan to get rid of the pasta water.
10. Place the "strained" noodles into a bowl. Wonder how come one half of the noodles is white and firm and other half is yellow and soggy.

...and that's just the noodles. Now let's go to the sauce...

1. Take out a can of tomato sauce, a pack of frozen hotdogs... realize that you don't know what the other ingredients are... let alone what to do with it. Put everything back and just take out that jar of Emeril's homestyle marinara sauce.
2. After 10 minutes trying to get the jar open, place some into a small bowl. Don't forget to spill some on the counter.
3. Put the bowl into the microwave and set the timer to 1 minute. Go back to the couch to watch highlights of last night's Denver Nuggets - Sacramento Kings game
4. "Bam! Bam!". No it's not Emeril. That was the sauce which is now splattered inside the microwave
5. Place a few more tablespoons of marinara sauce (equivalent to the amount you can scrape off the microwave) and heat for 20 seconds.

noodles and sauce... now for the garlic bread.

1. Take out a nonstick frying pan. Begin to heat around 5 tablespoons of canola oil.
2. Chop up garlic. Oh wait, do that thing with the knife's side. It looks really cool.
3. Once the oil's hot, put in chopped garlic. Yes, you forgot to remove the skin. Fish them out with a fork.
4. Wait for the garlic to turn brown.
5. Realizing that you should've placed butter instead of canola oil, NOW you add butter. Ponder why you placed canola oil in the first place. Was it even really canola oil?
6. Now the garlic's turning black. Quick! Begin toasting bread.
7. Ok. Now the garlic's charred and you forgot that the toaster is racist (I'll explain some other time) and doesn't pop out the bread. Now the bread's charred on one side.
8. Throw out bread and toast another pair.
9. Great. You burned it again. Oh well, that'll do. Pour the charred garlic and oil into the toasted...uh... charred bread.

Now you decide: eat this stuff.... or order take out from Singha?

Either way you're already late, the kitchen's a mess and the microwave looked like it just murdered something.